"Oh.. well."
Kasenhis sighed helplessly and shrugged.
After sending Lupin off, he pulled out Bruce's Ender Pearl and tossed it to the ground.
Vmm!
With a booming sound, Sirius's dog face appeared in the office—completely bewildered.
"Did you miss me, Bruce?" Kasenhis asked with a sidelong grin, scooping Sirius up and happily walking toward the terrace.
1 minute later...
A few little wizards strolling near the Black Lake looked up to see a big black dog slowly gliding toward them.
"What the heck is that?!"
Kasenhis glanced at the happily flying Sirius and didn't bother calling the cheerful dog back. After closing the floor-to-ceiling window, he gleefully returned to studying his magic book. He figured he could keep layering and combining spells to create even more powerful magic effects.
And by the next day…
"Whoa whoa whoa… Don't tell me you didn't sleep all night," Lupin said as he walked in and saw the disheveled, bleary-eyed, stubbly-faced Kasenhis.
"I couldn't help it. This stuff's just too damn fun," Kasenhis replied, lifting his Advanced Arcane Art Magic Book with a grin.
"So you pulled an all-nighter?"
"Not just that. I also made a few new glyphs—like Wind Blade. It works kinda like Severus's Sectumsempra, except with a wider attack range."
"And then there's the Growth Glyph and the Naming Glyph. The first one's nothing special, but the second one—man, in a way, it totally works like a Confundus Charm. It's insanely good!" Kasenhis said excitedly.
Lupin nodded. "Alright, alright, I get it—you're amazing now. But listen to me, you really need to get some proper rest… want me to hit you with a Stupefy?"
"Uh… sure, but I still have some work to d—"
"Stupefy." Right after casting the Stunning Spell, Lupin immediately followed up with a Levitation Charm, floating Kasenhis straight back up to his fourth-floor bedroom. He sighed, shrugged helplessly, and left.
The next morning, Kasenhis, hair sticking up like a bird's nest, groggily stared at his desk—his stack of assignments had doubled after just one day of inactivity.
???
But he quickly came up with the optimal solution: he staggered over to the liquor cabinet. That would definitely help him wake up fast.
"Kasenhis! Come with me, I need your help!"
At that moment, Dumbledore suddenly appeared in his office without so much as a knock, grabbed Kasenhis by the shoulder, and tried to Apparate them both away—only to fail.
Kasenhis looked a bit embarrassed. "You really think my office is a public market? Come and go as you please, huh?"
"Ehm.. Fair enough," Dumbledore said, slightly awkward, then turned toward the corner where a pile of boats lay scattered, clearly intending to sail out.
Dumbledore: At least I get to have some fun.. (★‿★)
Kasenhis returned to his desk, pulled out a remote, and pressed a button.
With a loud clack, the smooth ice path retracted into the floor, revealing the old cobblestone underneath once again.
Dumbledore: (⓿_⓿)
"Kasenhis… do you really want me to walk out of here?" Dumbledore asked pitifully.
"Well, if I didn't want people to be able to enter but not leave, why would I bother setting up that Ender Pearl restriction? Of course, you could always tell me how urgent this so-called matter of yours really is. If it's truly urgent, I'll disable the ward. But if it turns out it's not that serious… ahem," Kasenhis said with a shake of his head.
"It's absolutely an emergency of the highest order!" Dumbledore said, dry as toast.
Kasenhis sighed, nodded, and deactivated the Ender restriction—then allowed Dumbledore to take him away.
...
International Confederation of Wizards Conference…
"Dumbledore… how should I even put this? I've been tricked by you again. Your 'life-or-death emergency' turned out to be just… coming with you to brag at the International Confederation of Wizards?"
Kasenhis growled through gritted teeth, slapping Dumbledore's shoulder with all his might.
"Ow! This isn't just about me! And this is not a trivial matter! Do you want Hogwarts to lose face?" Dumbledore defended himself.
"I was supposed to be in my office, enjoying a nice drink…" Kasenhis said with hands on his hips, walking toward the window.
He sighed as he looked out at the scenery, then added,
"So? You're the one who's good at boasting. Why drag me along for this?"
"I've already spoken with Durmstrang and Beauxbatons. Next term, the three schools will revive an ancient tournament," Dumbledore said.
"So… what's that got to do with me?" Kasenhis asked, completely baffled.
"This tournament is called the Triwizard Tournament. It's a competition between the three schools, each sending a champion—and that champion is selected by an ancient piece of alchemical equipment."
"And let me guess… that piece of alchemical equipment is broken?" Kasenhis shot back.
"Correct."
"Can't you go ask Nicolas Flamel or something? He's been alive forever, he must know how to fix it. And besides, how would I know how to repair that thing? I don't know squat about how to fix an ancient alchemical broken product," Kasenhis said, wearing the face of someone who'd just died inside.
"Durmstrang's and Beauxbatons' alchemy professors have already tried. Total failures. But I already bragged to them that you could fix it, so don't let me down now!" Dumbledore said, pleading.
"Is it too late for me to leave?"
"Absolutely."
Kasenhis sighed in resignation and followed Dumbledore into a small conference room, still dazed.
Inside were already four people: a tall, elegant woman and an elderly man with a goatee.
On the other side of the room sat a tall man with a full beard and long hair swept back, along with a witch in a black trench coat seated beside him.
"This is Madame Maxime, Headmistress of Beauxbatons, and Professor Pond, their Alchemy professor," Dumbledore said, gesturing toward the tall witch and the elderly wizard.
"Oh, hello," Kasenhis greeted them casually.
"And over here, we have the Headmaster of Durmstrang—you can call him Headmaster Karkaroff—and their Alchemy professor, Miss Rostammer."
Kasenhis, still a bit dazed, nodded and gave another polite greeting.
The four visitors from the two schools were clearly curious about the young man who'd been making waves in the world of alchemical papers.
Despite his less-than-impressive appearance—likely the result of just waking up without having a chance to wash up—neither of the alchemy professors showed the slightest hint of disdain.
It was obvious they understood exactly what the papers written by this young man represented.
The two headmasters, however, had different reactions—especially Madame Maxime, whose expression grew awkward.
She couldn't help but remember how, not long ago, she had entertained the idea of reassigning their current alchemy professor to look after the winged horses… just so she could hire this one instead.
Now, faced with the real deal, she couldn't help but feel a strange mix of relief—and a bit of deeply suppressed shame—because, thankfully, her plan had never succeeded.
_____
Taking our handsome MC to the conference without even straightening his hair should be a sin!
(～￣▽￣)～Read 12 Chapters ahead:
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